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Light and Shadow; A Knight's War
(This story was posted by Muse on the Utopia Skye forums, beginning on May 5, 2005 and ending on February 23, 2006. This story occurs after Shadow and Light: A Warlock's Vengeance. A Muse's Light occurs during) ---- Caliope woke with a start remaining on her stomach where she had fallen asleep. She did not move her whole body but only her left arm immediately lowering it to the left side of the bed where sword lay within easy reach. Grabbing it quietly her fingers wrapping around the comfort of it's handle she stayed as still as possible. Pausing, listening to the silence of the room that was broken only by her heartbeat she opened her eyes slowly but did not move anymore than she already had. She knew someone was in the room… she could smell them. The smell was of the burnt materials the dark dwarves used in their terrorism. An assassin she reasoned, had been sent to kill her, but would die not so quickly she decided as the grasp on her sword tightened. Her teeth clenched together as she heard scuttling sounds coming from the foot of the bed to her right. She was grateful that she had decided to rest in her full armor last night despite being uncomfortable. It would indeed protect her now. More noises ensued as other assailants entered the room as well. The tension hung in the air like a wet blanket and she heard soft breathing and stifled laughing of restrained excitement. Closing her eyes, her grip viselike on the handle of her sword she prepared to swing as she heard movement coming to the left side of the bed. Timing was everything for she knew the minute the assailants came to that side they would see not the sleeping unsuspecting victim they laughingly thought they had before them, but the prepared Knight of Skye that would rain pain and terror upon them. Breathing hard through her clenched teeth the noise coming through as a soft whine, she realized her fingers were ice cold from the death grip she had on her sword. Peeping through one eye she saw one pair of feet approach. Indeed the darkened armor of the dark dwarf was evident as he approached. Slowly he stepped cautiously approaching her sleeping form. Suddenly he stopped and all noises of whispers ceased. Caliope knew the time was now and with a grunt escaping her throat as her war cry, she pulled her sword fully into view her blade arching up and back as she turned flipping onto her back. Her blade’s speed slowed only as she cut through the knees of the dark dwarf sending him sprawling forward as blood issued forth from his body. Hopping up blood splattering on her face she stood on the mattress which she had slept and faced her attackers. She counted three more in front of her all looking at her in total shock. Twisting her body and practically leaping off the bed to the right over the body of the dwarf she had slain, she grabbed for her shield sliding it on her arm and holding it in front of her. This position was bad, for it put her in the corner but at least now she was guarded. The remaining 3 dwarves stood for another moment, frozen in their fear at seeing their leaders knees severed from his body. It was in this moment that she struck. Feeling her reflexes move she lashed out calling forth the light she carried in her and issued a seal of judgment against the first dwarf immediately in front of her who hadn’t had time to react to her onslaught. Freezing him in place she turned her attention to the other two as one approached her from the right his dagger glinting off the moon rays that shone down from the hole in the inn’s roof. She brought her shield up turning it slightly to protect the one area on her side that a dagger could penetrate while swinging her sword and turning it flat as she smacked him directly across his face with the blunt edge of her sword. Satisfied at the crunching noise heard while he collapsed covering his nose as he died, she turned back to her main attacker who stood still stunned. She stood breathing hard in front of him waiting for the spell to release and made momentary note of the remaining dwarf running screaming out of the inn, the surprise attack no longer something he had interest in. As the stun wore off, the dwarf made a noise sounding like a whine as he tried to back up. Lunging forward Caliope grabbed his beard and pulled him back closer to her. “Who sent you!” She demanded hissing the words through her clenched teeth. The dwarf could not respond his face contorting in pain as her hands reached from his beard to clench around his throat. She leaned in closer nearly gagging on the stench of explosives and body odor emanating from him but she remained firm. “This pain you feel now, is nothing dwarf, to the pain I will give you slowly over time if you do not tell me NOW, who sent you”. Her anger was bright, fueled by her own fear that she dare not show this dwarf. Her face scrunched up and the blood from the dwarf she had killed painted an image of a war struck warrior rather than the sweet paladin most knew. “gua.. agha” The dwarf tried to speak, but his eyes rolled up in his head as the oxygen she starved him of completely depleted. She released her grasp on him and pointed her sword at his head as the dwarf’s knees went weak and he collapsed in a pile on the floor, choking and trying to breathe. She stepped only one step back continuing to hold her sword above his head as she continued “Tell me now dwarf and you shall survive to be my messenger. Withhold the truth from me and I will unleash my sword upon you driving out those demons you carry inside you with the fire of my holy light” Gasping for breath and holding his throat the dwarf sputtered “A… Ag… Agas” Caliope stood stunned for a moment thinking … “Agas…?“ The dwarf began to stand bringing Caliope out of her pause. She grabbed his shirt pulling him close to her again as he yelped and began to beg for her to show mercy. “Shut UP dwarf and listen to me now. You have survived this night only to be my messenger. You shall go to this Agas… and take this” With her free hand she grabbed a hold of a linen cloth nearby that she had been previously using to make bandages from. She wiped her face with it, mixing the dwarf’s blood that she had slain earlier with her sweat and when done shoved it into his hands. “Take this to this vile Agas” she spit the name out with disgust “… and tell them that this… blood is on their head tonight, and that while they have hunted me, the tables shall be turned and soon THEY will become the hunted.” The dwarf stared at her blinking the sweat from his eyes. She lifted his small but bulky frame off the floor her anger giving her more strength and shook him violently as she spoke. “Do you understand me Dwarf?” “Y…yes, YES” he shouted. She unceremoniously dropped him to the floor and turned her back on him, keeping her sword gripped tightly in her hands in case he should attack. “Then go” she said, dismissing him with a wave of her hand. She counted the seconds as the dwarf decided if she was attackable. In precisely 3 seconds, she heard his footsteps on the grass running outside and away from her. Another 10 seconds later, she allowed her body to bend over, her fear consuming her finally and began retching violently onto the floor of the inn. The stench of blood from the slain dwarves and fear from her body and the fear of the attackers blanketed everything. She wished that she had not been alone this night. When her body ceased it’s tremors of fear, she cried silently not looking up from the floor. She was prone to doubt, a trait her being human had afforded her… and while she scolded herself for being weak, she allowed herself to be human and feel her fear “Father” she whispered offering her words to him so far away… “I cannot do this alone.” Her memory took her back to her home and the day that it had been ravaged by the Orcs. The words her father had said after the battle was done when he dispatched his daughter to save them, rang clearly in her head. “God speed Caliope” his hand clasped on her shoulder and gripped her tightly as she had seen him do so many times to his solders. “Find those of valiant heart and amass for us an army of the finest, purest warriors of light. I know only you can see them as clearly as my eyes see the light of day” He smiled at her referring to her innate ability to see the hearts of those she came in touch with, and she could only nod back to him a lump of fear stuck in her throat. “I will father” she said quietly, and she had turned from her home with the rogue named Shish at her side walking out of the city of skye and heading towards her destiny. She thought of that moment now as she was crouched over double on this wooden makeshift floor, hot tears of embarrassment streaking their way down her blood covered face. There was more than finding those of valiant heart here, and it was this knowledge that had made Caliope go into hiding. Something was coming and she could do nothing to protect those that she loved except hide. It was the only way those that she had gathered would remain safe. In her mind she heard the word “coward”, but in her heart she knew this burden began somehow… with her and would be finished with her alone. Whispering, as she stood slowly moving about the room gathering her meager things, she said again “I cannot do this alone…” even as she knew she would indeed face this alone. ----- In the distance practically on the other side of the world a creature of the undead has watched locked in concentration her sight going far beyond that of her immediate surroundings. She smiles at the fear that was felt by Caliope. She felt it as her own and it ha warmed her cold heart enough to bring her gleeful torturous joy. “Now… “ In her gutter speak she spoke “YOU dear Caliope will know fear… in the form of slow death, just like I did.” Laughing maniacally and clapping her hands, scaring the demon hounds near by, she watches Caliope pack to leave thrilling in the fact that Caliope thinks, she will find somewhere “safe”. Knocking over her chair she stands triumphant raising her bony arms above her head, the flesh dripping from them like rotten cloth, as she shouts… “My time has come!” ---- The water barely moved around her but she remained still. The steam rising from the tub caused the hair at the nape of her neck to become damp and stick to her skin. Her eyes closed, she remained lost in thought. This luxury of a warm bath was something rarely afforded to a traveling paladin whose mainstay was usually healing and grimy war. It was one luxury she indulged in whenever she could. The innkeeper had provided her with a nice sized room and one of the only ones with this heavenly object. Caliope noticed when he brought her the things she needed, towels and the like, that his eyes kept flicking to her and away just as quickly as he mentally envisioned her undressed and relaxing in his tub. Carefully locking the door behind him and placing a chair as a weight against it, Caliope had stripped out of her armor as quickly as it took her to breathe a few deep breathes and without hesitation had immersed herself in the water up to her chin. And this... is where she sat undisturbed for quite some time allowing the heat of the water to penetrate her tired bones, and the steam to revitalize her skin. Events of the past few weeks played before her eyes like a picture show. She saw her entire fight in the inn at Menethil Harbor, and her flight that night very clearly. After gathering her things as quickly as possible, even leaving behind a few herbs she had been using for her potions, she ran out into the night. She was only briefly aware of the other folks at the inn who had been roused from their sleep by the screaming dark iron dwarf that she had not tormented. She left without a care, as she knew they would simply shrug their shoulders and lock their doors and chalk it up to the harshness of the world. Little did they know when they heard the innkeeper scream in the morning, upon finding the dwarves bodies Caliope had left that not only was the world harsh, but it indeed contained killers as well…and yes, even paladins were killers. She searched herself and found no remorse for the dark iron dwarves she had killed that night. She had acted purely from instinct and that it seems saved her more often than not. But she did feel a pang of sadness as she thought back to the day when she left her home to do her fathers bidding. She missed her home so much. She missed being young and naïve… She missed being free. As the thoughts hit her she cried quietly in the tub. Hot tears streamed down her face and she wished that she could go back to what was. There were so many valiant, incredible fighters she had come across and she sensed greatness in them as she looked into their eyes. But when the mirror caught her own reflection she felt fear, weakness, sadness and she loathed her humanity for that. She sniffled slightly and wiped her face with her hand as she opened her eyes since entering the tub. Breathing deeply, she noted that her room smelled pleasantly like lavender, though none was in sight in a vase or lying about. The wood walls were a deep mahogany and extra care had been taken to ensure the room was filled with comforts that only those of the rich persuasion were accustomed to. Ornate pillows sat in the corner of the couch built for two to the side of the window. Artwork adorned the walls depicting scenes of nighttime and daytime bliss with moonlight skies and sunlit fields. This was indeed a room of the finest detail, even having a bed with linen instead of the bed of hay that she was used to sleeping in. She wondered about the lavender again and remembered the innkeeper had told her a purveyor of fine herbs had stayed here recently, only leaving today and unexpectedly at that. The innkeeper a short balding man had laughed heartily as he told her with much flourish of his hands indicating he was doing her a HUGE favor… “But you can have the room paladin, for the remaining cost of his tab if’n you like” He grinned at her his missing teeth glaring like black holes, his head nodding at her as if a shared conspirator in a secret destined to be part of fate. He leaned closer to her bringing his foul stench wafting over her senses, and she leaned back as he spoke whispering. “There’s even a means to relax a bit… seeing as it’s the only room with a tub.” He grinned at her again cackling in lower tones, his laughter sounding more like an evil plan had just been made rather than the low tones of camaraderie. His laughter only served to chill her as she thought of the things going through his mind already, at the sight of a woman who would soon be relaxing in his tub even if he weren’t around. She knew she looked a fright, her black hair only patted down, not having had the benefit of a comb in a few days. Her pallor she was sure was ghastly, her fear and constant running keeping her on the edge of being able to sleep and always paranoid. She felt grimy and needed desperately to feel human and sleep the sleep of the dead. His eyes traveled up and down her body undressing her without hiding his gaze. She sighed deeply and thought, how bizarre that a normal object can turn into some perversion. She had no fear of the innkeeper, a simple judgment cast upon him would cause him certain death and in his shifty dark eyes she knew he was aware of that. She knew too that he had seen her sword of destiny and knew she could obviously wield the heavy sword only made in the deepest regions of silver pine forest, where the scarlet monastery was… Where the perversion of light lived and was fostered to bring about hatred. To live through that den of hell alone gave her a reputation of a warrior that she wore proudly for it served her well especially now with this seedy devil of a man laying his eye sight upon her. She smiled slightly and only nodded to him, not once thinking of the oddity that this innkeeper would be willing to help a total stranger based solely on profession. She had little care for that worry at this time however, having been on the run for over two weeks now, and wanting only to sleep. Her thoughts drifted to the present where she now sat in this tub with its water-cooling slightly. Her eyes flicked about the room and she noticed the little things about the room that she hadn’t noticed before in her haste. The floor had a heavy layer of dust on it… interesting as the herbalist before her must not have moved about? Her eyes narrowed at bit at a particularly clean patch of floor that looked to have been recently swept. Her eyes flicked up to the armoire near that area and she noticed some marks on the door for the first time. Sitting up causing water to splash out of the tub onto the floor she leaned forward trying to get a better view from her existing position. They looked deep, like gouges perhaps… Her instincts picked up and the hairs on the nape of her neck stood up. Reaching for the towel she had laid out, she stood up shivering slightly as the cool air touched her bare skin. She wrapped the towel around her body as she stepped out of the tub heading towards the armoire. It was then that she heard a creaking that sounded behind her outside the door. She stopped in her tracks aware that it could be a passerby but more aware that it probably wasn’t. She held her breath almost as tightly as she gripped the towel keeping it wrapped around her. She waited for an eternity and when she didn’t hear it again she tiptoed forward to the armoire her hand outstretched to touch the grooves in the wood. She was right as she leaned in and examined the wood, they were gouges… It looked as if they were knife gouges perhaps? This troubled her and she reached her hand around the handle feeling compelled to look inside. Just as the knob started to turn she stopped as quickly as she had started. Something was wrong here… A purveyor of herbs had been here, but he left suddenly; the innkeeper willing to help her… All the pieces began to come together suddenly and almost with an audible click the picture started to come together… This picture the elements painted could only be of one thing; being hunted. She turned around without opening the armoire, dropping the towel as she did and began to reach for her clothing. Slipping into the armor proved a more daunting task taking longer than she would have liked because she hadn’t fully dried off but she had no time. She heard a creak again on the stairs and this time she didn’t stop what she was doing. She kept slipping armor pieces on finally latching her breastplate hastily and grabbing for her sword the second she was done. Her instinct spoke to her clearly and told her two things, 1. She must look in the armoire, and 2. She must then get out of here and FAST. She stepped back still barefoot until she reached the armoire. Reaching behind her, her eyes on the door the whole time she saw the doorknob to her room quietly being tested. Her heart leapt into her throat and she reached behind her grabbing the armoire door handle. She opened it amazed that its hinges didn’t protest with a single squeak or whine and turned quickly to view the contents. With a clatter of her sword hitting her shield she raised her hand to her mouth stifling the scream that rose in her throat. The body of a man, a well-dressed one had been shoved into the armoire. Fresh lavender had been draped all over his body in an effort to mask the stench, explaining the smell of the room. His silk cloth dress had been a bright white but now appeared red in places, where she didn’t even dare to look. She had seen enough she knew and closed the door quietly breathing hard her sweat beading on her forehead. A loud knocking at her door made her jump and she knew that now was the time she had to go… she looked about the room and spied the open window leading into the forests of Darkshire. She was afraid of the creatures there, for they were the undead, but she was more afraid of the menace outside her door right now. She quickly reached the window frame and stepped out onto the ledge. The wind whipped at her wet hair and cooled her sweating forehead. The knocking came again at the door and she realized that it wasn’t knocking it was kicking… Her attackers were done with the silent approach they were kicking at the wood causing splinters to fly everywhere. The chair she had placed there had done well and kept them outside the wood frame of it holding fast. She edged to the other side of the window and risked turning her back to the door so she could see where her jump would place her. Bushes lined the lower levels of the inn but no sharp objects or anything that could kill her lay in wait, if she fell properly. Standing with her back to the window she heard the door go crashing inward and heard the grunt of her attackers as they came through the frame. The putrid air overpowered the scent of the lavender and the room became a theater of death. She couldn’t see past the bushes below her to know if they were the type with thorns or not but she’d have to take that chance. She leaned slightly forward when the first attacker, an undead by the smell of him, moaned too close to her ear for her comfort. She cried out as it reached for her, the waxy fingers trying to gain purchase on her or her armor. Pushing forward she jumped off the ledge hoping to avoid the bushes below. Her attacker groaned as her forward lunge caused him to lean out the window only grabbing at empty air, as she was gone. As she landed hard on her side tumbling a bit, her leg causing her pain when she landed on it, she gasped aloud. Suddenly the night grew quiet, and she heard a strange voice above from the landing. Standing shakily, she risked a quick look up and saw a hunched over figure approaching the window in tattered brown priests robes. She recognized the undead by the rotting flesh, but the eyes… the eyes caught her. They were large empty sockets, which began to glow yellow hot with anger. “NOOOOOOOO” the thing shrieked leaning back raising its fists in the air as it glared at Caliope. That noise was all that Caliope needed to hear. As the shrieking bore a hole into her brain, Caliope covered her ears and ran as fast as she could. She headed down the darkened path behind the inn, forcing her legs to work faster, her lungs to fill deeper. She ran through the back paths of Darkshire heading towards the crossroad to Stranglethorn Vale. She had in her haste not gotten her steed, but she could run and run she did. Into the night she ran, not knowing what she ran from or where exactly she ran to, but knowing that she simply MUST run. ---- While the moon watched; the ever-present silent observer, Caliope ran for her life. Somewhere off in the distance, another screamed in outrage at the loss of the opportunity to take Caliope’s life…and strangely, the rest of the world slept unaware of the unfolding of one woman’s destiny; dreaming of days of peace while darkness blanketed everything. ---- Journal Entry: Date Unknown I sit writing this by candlelight in the darkest corners of my mind. This is where I’ve recessed, where I hide now. She finds me everywhere. How she knows me I know not, but the insanity is enough to break me. My hand shakes as I write this… My lip trembles with fear as I jump at every noise. This is what I am now, a shadow of myself, reduced to fear, paranoia, and indeed perhaps…death. When suddenly memory awakes in me, stirring gently, unrolling the parchment of the story she has written, that she will read to me. The wind… I remember the wind. Standing atop the cliff at Wellspring. It felt so good against my sweating skin. Like a lovers caress it gently dried my sweat, my fear. Looking down upon the white foamy water rushing to an unknown destination I stood swaying in the delirium of my pain. What more could I do? With careful precision I removed my plate armor dropping it on the slippery rocks. Why this was important I know not. But I knew I must not be the warrior when I died. I must be what SHE is after… I must be my muse. Slipping nearly falling off the slippery rocks, as I stood covered now in my black dress of death, a certain peace came over me. Fervently I prayed to all that I could that this would spare people her wrath… Hearing in the background softly, so far away, Kyrula shouting as she ran to me to stop, that this wasn't the way... I looked back, I remember this, as a spray of water came and cleansed my face of my tears. I wanted to be strong in the face of my sister and show her that I knew what I must do… Whispering the words I had heard in my heart, I closed my eyes and recited them softly facing my fate: When the dark wood fell before me And all the paths were overgrown When the priests of pride say there is no other way I tilled the sorrows of stone I did not believe because I could not see Though you came to me in the night When the dawn seemed forever lost You showed me your love in the light of the stars Cast your eyes on the ocean Cast your soul to the sea When the dark night seems endless Please remember me I looked back one last time and smiled at Kyrula who ran so fast to me. But I knew then as I turned my head slowly to face fate, that my time was now. I could swear the world became silent in the seconds before… Even the water slowed in it's downward journey looking more like droplets of crystal diamonds hanging suspended in midair in front of me so I could touch them individually. And then I flew…pushing off the edge with my feet, my eyes closed, my arms outstretched. As I flew soaring along the cliff, the water buffeted me, the wind sang to me in whispers and I flew into… darkness. "Was that the end?" I wondered in the inky darkness of nothing. The next thing I knew, Kyrula was leaning over me whispering in a language I did not understand. I must have understood it before, but at my confusion now, she simply put her hands over her face and started to cry. But why cry I thought…? So gently I reached up and brushed her tears away. Now, propelled back into the present I shake deeper intimately aware that I died. No memory existed for me of my death, until today. And now… I sit in this darkness, nearly split in two personalities with no direction. Instinct is my companion and fear is my nemesis, and she goes by the name AGAS. ~C~ ---- Caliope poured the blue liquid from the vial into the larger jar of yellow liquid. She had been working tirelessly to create these potions are required. Her dress a darks black wizards robe showed just how she felt…bleak. She worked almost on autopilot pouring, mixing, straining. She must do her bidding or others would pay of that she was certain. Her thoughts drifted as she poured and stirred these herbal remedies. She was here to make them for Agas, a task she hated, but one that had to be done or Agas would threaten more lives. Caliope had dared to stand up to her once. She shuddered as she remembered the drifter that had happened by on the day they were having this argument. He had obviously been without some place to call home in some time. His hair was unkempt, his clothes were tattered. Caliope felt sympathy for him, but Agas did not. “Do you wish to still test my determination Caliope” Agas asked, her face close to Caliope’s. “I will not be a party to your madness Agas”. Caliope stood her ground noting that the man behind her stood rooted in place. “Very well then, Caliope… You must learn your place in this world.” Agas’s eyes glowed yellow as she continued. “Perhaps this kind man will be a willing, or unwilling assistant in your lesson”. Caliope’s eyes widened in horror as Agas made a simple motion with her hand, much like that of batting a fly away. A small blue flame shot out from her fingertips engulfing this man whose name Caliope didn’t even know in a blue light. His mouth opened in a silent scream as he clutched at his throat and chest. Suddenly he collapsed twitching on the ground. Agas looked at Caliope and smiled a lopsided garish grin. Her voice was like parchment. “His name was Jecoh, Caliope… remember it, because today due to your actions, he died at your hands.” Agas laughed then as Caliope stood in horror still shocked at what she had seen. Below her on the ground Jecoh’s body twitched a few moments more and then lay still. Caliope shook her head in the present trying to rid herself of these thoughts while she worked. She couldn’t help it; Agas continued to torment her even remotely while she did her bidding. She stopped for a moment her hand poised in the air trying to shut out the image she saw as she clenched her eyes shut and grit her teeth. Still, it persisted. She was being shown a conversation…about herself had between a rogue she knew and another unnamed woman. “She is so ridiculous, all that love and light stuff… I mean who believes that?” She knew the attire and appearance of this rogue well, his leather vest and pants of Defias black gave him away. Not to mention his flaming red hair and deep blue eyes were a signature trait in Shish. In the image he turned his eyes her direction almost as if he saw her and continued speaking. “It’s not like anyone believes it you know. They just go with it because she’s his daughter”. Then shish laughed evilly and looked away. The image shimmered from her vision and it was then that Caliope realized she had been holding her breath. Exhaling through her clenched teeth the effort producing a soft whine she slowly opened her eyes. Back in the room of her house with its healing remedies, stone walls, inlaid tile floor, plants and herbs everywhere. This once had been a room of peace. Now it was a room of torture. She poured the remaining mixture into the vial and noted that her hand was shaking. She had allowed the emotions she felt at the images of someone she cared for completely demeaning who she was, to well up to the surface. It didn’t matter if Agas enjoyed the show, what Agas was doing was enough torture to nearly kill her. Looking down at her mixture her tears fell freely. Having finished pouring the potion, she swirled the vial that now contained a greenish hued liquid in it. As she swirled the contents she felt a barrier in her throat form. Her emotions were running out of control. Focusing on the vial she told herself “It’s all a dream”. The tightness in her throat however, told her otherwise. She felt it move down to her chest slowly, sinuously like a snake charting its course. She knew the feeling of anger. She knew it well… and now here it was for her. In the background she could hear laughter. Agas, she thought. She put the vial in its holder leaning down to do so, when a single tear fell into the mixture. Immediately the greenish fluid began to glow a yellow color gaining brightness as she cried harder having ruined the potion she worked so hard on. The vise like grip around her heart swelled with the tears forming at her eyes. Blood began to pump with fury through her veins, marching to a beat of anger not felt in her in quite some time. The vial began to glow a bright hot white, but Caliope cared not. She closed her eyes and opened herself to her anger. In the back of her mind she could hear Agas shouting, “No, NO Do NOT do this, there will be many sufferings for this!” “I DO NOT CARE” Caliope shouted, and with that white light shot forth from her right hand slamming into the vials and jars along the wall shattering them into a thousand glimmering shards. Unable to contain the anger, sadness, rage, hopelessness, she felt she shot white light from her left hand to the other side of the room breaking everything in range of her energy. The air in the room picked up speed as the energies from the spells gained momentum and strength. Her black hair whipped around her face and her robes moved shaking in the energy. The air itself nearly hummed with the energy. Her eyes closed, her head lowered, she held her arms out form her sides, until the energy reached a level of near combustion. Snapping open her eyes, they glowed an impossible bright green. Silently her mouth opened as she dispensed all the energy she had inside her body. White hot light covered the walls of the room she was in; fire erupted from underneath her feet in a circular range scorching all that it touched. The smell of burning fabric, scorched plants, and magic energies unleashed, danced about the air as Caliope turned in a circle ensuring that nothing in the room was left unmarred… Finally with flames licking at her robes and heat scorching her skin, she used the last of her energy to put a protective bubble around herself. Her energy depleting fast, she grew weaker by the second. Looking around, her eyes their normal green color, she saw the catastrophic damage she had caused. All was silent around her as she took it all in, except for the flames that continued sluggishly to burn everything in sight. The lump that formed in her throat this time was one of only sadness. Gleaming in front of her having been protected by the bubble she used around herself was the single vial of brilliantly glowing liquid. Caliope noticed it pulsed with a myriad of colors. She grabbed a small cap and corked the bottle hiding it in the folds of her robe. Taking one last look around and feeling no presence, no Agas, only sadness, Caliope turned through the doorway and blindly ran... Category:Warcraft Skye RP